Teens had the opportunity to create their own Operation Game. Participants were given a hand out with step-by-step directions to build their own operation game. All the necessary supplies were set out on a separate table and teens could either work in a team or individually. At the end we tried out all the operation games created and talked about their favorite part of this project.
Type: Self-directed
Age: Middle school
Optimal size: 11-20
Estimated cost: $51 - $100
Planning time: <1 hour
Frequency: One-time
Learning outcomes
1. Teens will have the opportunity to Learn about design board game
2. Teens will have to opportunity to learned about parallel circuits, power sources, LED lights and other components.
Instructions
Supplies:
* 1 empty shoe or cereal box
* 1 buzzer
* 2 AA batteries
* 2 Alligator Clip Cables
* 1 set of Tweezers
* 1 Battery Holder
* 1 LED light
* 1 Aluminum foil sheet
1. Draw your character on a piece of paper or print out your favorite character and glue it or tape it onto your box.
2. Decide were you want to put the wholes in your box, mark the spots and cut them out.
3. Add the LED light to your box/character. Pick a spot for your light and the LED in from the top of the box. On the inside of the box, label the legs on the LED light + positive leg (The long one), and the -negative leg (the short one).
4. Flip the box over and tape 1/2 of the aluminum sheet to the bottom half of the inside flap of the box. You should be able to see the legs of the LED light on this side. Flip the box over again the cut out the foil in your circles. Fold the edges of the foil over the edges of the spots.
5. Add the power source. Flip your box over again and tape the battery pack in the upper left. Attach the alligator clip to the red wire on the battery pack (the + side).
6. Add the tweezers. Attach the other end of the alligator clip to the tweezers.
7. Connect LED to power. Tape a strip of foil to the negative leg of the LED. Tape the - negative wire (the black wire) from the battery pack to the foil too. Tape a strip of foil to the + positive leg of the LED. Attach the alligator clip to the foil too.
8. Add the buzzer. Connect the - negative wire (the black wire) of the buzzer to the foil that with the - negative leg of the LED. Connect the + positive (the red wire) of the buzzer to the foil that's with the + positive leg of the LED.
9. Connect your character. Attach the remaining end of your alligator clip to one of the spots in your character. Make sure it's making a good contact with the foil! Test your circuit by touching the tweezers to the foil in one or your spots. If the LED lights up and the buzzer goes off, you're good to go!
10. Play! Turn your box over then place a small object in each of the spots. Try to pick them up with the tweezers without setting off the alarm! (try to pick up small things, gummy bears, Play-doh balls, Tic Tacs, etc)
Evaluation
This program was a little tricky at times, some of the teens had difficulties at one point or another putting their games together, but everyone was more then happy to help each other and at the end the teens were very excited about their end projects and they had a lot of fun playing all the different versions of Operation that were created.
Other resources
KitHub is the best resource that I found for building this games. Their are other, but they were a bit more complicated and they required some power tools, which I would not feel comfortable letting our teens use.
https://kithub.cc/2015/02/how-to-make-your-own-operation-game/